Something Brown on the Cereal

Routine is the underpinning of my dad's life. Each and every morning he arises around 8. He always emerges from his room fully dressed, jeans, shirt, cardigan sweater, socks and shoes and goes directly to his bathroom to complete his toiletries. He makes his entry fully shaved, teeth brushed, hair combed, ready to conquer the day at hand. (Thank you Lord for washing machines and soap.)

First conquest, BREAKFAST. Every morning Raisin Bran, "Boy this is good stuff," he always says. We think it is important for him to be as independent as possible for his mental health so I am usually somewhere else in the house when he manages his breakfast. I can hear the clink, clink, clink of his spoon bumping the bowl as he scoops up his Raisin Bran. Sometimes I go out to check on him to make sure he is doing OK and ask if he is ready for his tea. I often check his bowl because he has been known to put unusual liquids on his cereal; 1/2 N 1/2 for one.

This morning after hearing the usual clink, clink, clink in the kitchen I go out to make a check. This time the "milk" on his cereal looks rather brown. "Pop, it looks like you've got chocolate soy milk on your cereal. Does it taste OK?" He responds, "Not really." I go to the sink and there are the remains of a dumped bowl of cereal with brownish looking liquid around it. It appears that he had poured out his first attempt at Raisin Bran and then turned around and made the same mistake all over again with his second bowl; Chocolate soy milk ... or is that tea?